What do you eat when racing?

crowe1

Hello

I have my first ever road race coming up in March. 64 miles in the rolling Cornish countryside. For that length of time on a bike I am thinking I will need to consume something on the bike. I have raced 56 miles on a half ironman where I was eating regularly but I guess that was more for the run. What do you guys do? Break some energy bars up? Was thinking of taking my Xlab top tube bag but don't want to look like a newb.

Cheers

bigmat

I struggle, but that's mainly because I'm diabetic. Gels are good though, as are energy drinks. 64 miles is quite long - you might want to take a bar or two. Assuming it is a circuit, try and establish on lap one where there is likely to be enough of a "lull" to eat something - you don't want to be stuffing an energy bar down as you hit a descent / climb. There are usually sections - long straights, headwinds etc, where it is easier to sit in and eat something.

I wouldn't bother with the top tube bag. Stick your food in one of your rear pockets (whichever you find easiest to access). I sometimes stick a bar / gel up the leg of my shorts so I can easily grab it when a suitable moment to eat presents itself. Oh, most important of all stick the wrapper back in your pocket not the roadside.

CYCLESPORT1

You won't need much for a 2 1/2 hour race, carbo-load the day before, eat a good breakfast and maybe a couple of slices of malt loaf wit honey, a couple of gels and a couple of bottles.

DavidJB

Who eats malt loaf in a 2/3/4 RR .... why not bust out a full picnic...the only thing I have is gels...You don't have time to dine.

joey54321

I empty a packet of sports beans (basically overprice jelly beans) in to one of my pockets before starting and then use carb drink in my bottles. Make sure you start topped up and pick your moments as during the first part and the last part of the race it will be harder to take anything on.

imposter2.0

Carb drink for that distance - and maybe an energy bar/gel or two, if you get the chance.

markynulty

For me:

Pre race: Porridge with peanut butter an jam first thing then a bananna and a flapjack an hour before the start.

During: A gel once the initial rush has calmed down and then every 30 mins after plus two bottles of juice. If its over 2 hours and in contention for points then a caffeine gel with about 5 miles to go.

Pross

Get some practice in getting a gel / bar out of your jersey and opening it while riding at speed and, preferably, in a group. Also practice getting the drink out and putting it back in. I was always terrible for not eating or drinking enough as I was often too nervous to risk doing what should be pretty simple things like that while riding in the middle of a large group at over 20mph. Make it 2nd nature so that you aren't fumbling around and as above, plan where's best to do it. Hopefully there will be a lull whilst others do the same!

maryka

I like gel flasks for road races, easier to open/shut then the wrapped ones and no sticky wrapper afterwards. Also you can mix up to 5 gels in the flask (I generally use 3 then top up with water to make it less viscous) and it fits nicely in a jersey pocket. Sometimes it's handy coming from a triathlon background.

cycleclinic

You should be able to last 2 and a bit hours on the sugars stored in your muscles. So eat well in the two days prior to the race. Plenty of cars and some fats. Carry sugary drinks in your bottles to top up your blood sugar levels and you should be fine.

How Far is too Far

Jelly babies in your back pocket if you must.

napoleond

I'd've thought in a road race that bags and things weren't allowed?

okgo

thecycleclinic wrote:

You should be able to last 2 and a bit hours on the sugars stored in your muscles. So eat well in the two days prior to the race. Plenty of cars and some fats. Carry sugary drinks in your bottles to top up your blood sugar levels and you should be fine.

That hugely depends on how hard you're going AND how fit you are.

i.e. riding at full tilt I burn a LOT more calories now than when I was less fit, I think at really hard pace its around 1200-1300 cals an hour which is going to exhaust supplies quite quick, and the first hour of some races can be really tough. This is the irony of cycling as Dr Hutch put it in his book, the bigger the engine, the smaller the fuel tank!

Regarding bags, apart from the fact they would be a fiddle, there is no issue with it in races. Personally I only use gels in shorter events, eat well before the race, then after 45-50 mins I have one each half an hour, or half a bar instead if the pace isn't too hot.

jgsi

okgo wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

You should be able to last 2 and a bit hours on the sugars stored in your muscles. So eat well in the two days prior to the race. Plenty of cars and some fats. Carry sugary drinks in your bottles to top up your blood sugar levels and you should be fine.

That hugely depends on how hard you're going AND how fit you are.

i.e. riding at full tilt I burn a LOT more calories now than when I was less fit, I think at really hard pace its around 1200-1300 cals an hour which is going to exhaust supplies quite quick, and the first hour of some races can be really tough. This is the irony of cycling as Dr Hutch put it in his book, the bigger the engine, the smaller the fuel tank!

Regarding bags, apart from the fact they would be a fiddle, there is no issue with it in races. Personally I only use gels in shorter events, eat well before the race, then after 45-50 mins I have one each half an hour, or half a bar instead if the pace isn't too hot.

Gel bottle is a real boon.. no undoing of wrappers or disposal of sticky wrapper issue.

I'm with you, if I can I will get to eat some kind of easy digestable bar - maybe it is all placebo effect but thats my problem. However, sticky sugary drinks in summer are disgusting or even at lesser temp times- so I just have plain water. Again my problem. This is all for stuff over the 2 hour mark which you are interested in.
Road racing dictates you have to take your opportunity to feed at those points when you sense a lull.. but you still have to be inordinately quick about it. You just dont have the luxury of Ironman tactics.

DeVlaeminck

I would definitely be eating - while you may be able to "last" 2 and a bit hours without you will not be going very well at the finish if you don't eat during that time so I'd go with the majority on that.

As to what to eat - gels may be ideal but they can be a faff to open and get them on your hands and you can't exactly stop to wash the stickyness off so if I was using them I'd probably use a small gel bottle. In practice though I tend to use a bar with the wrapper already opened - ideally an energy bar but I'll use a some of the breakfast/muesli bars if that's all I have - for shorter races up to 30 miles or so I'd probably just stick some energy powder in my water.

pippi_langsamer-2

Pross wrote:

Get some practice in getting a gel / bar out of your jersey

(rant start)

...and more importantly, get some practice in getting said gel / bar back IN your jersey pocket :evil:

If you think its ok to chuck your shite into the hedgerows, then you're no better than the Chavs chucking their McD's out of the car window. Sure, you'll have messy pockets but so what- its all going in the wash anyway. These idiots are no doubt the ones moaning the loudest when their local parish race circuit is struck off the calendar due to complaints from locals.

(rant over)

ai_1

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

Pross wrote:

Get some practice in getting a gel / bar out of your jersey

(rant start)

...and more importantly, get some practice in getting said gel / bar back IN your jersey pocket :evil:

If you think its ok to chuck your shite into the hedgerows, then you're no better than the Chavs chucking their McD's out of the car window. Sure, you'll have messy pockets but so what- its all going in the wash anyway. These idiots are no doubt the ones moaning the loudest when their local parish race circuit is struck off the calendar due to complaints from locals.

(rant over)

Is that a big problemin your neck of the woods?
I don't do straight cycle racing but I very occasionally see a gel wrapper on the ground during a duathlon or sportive. Considering the numbers of participants and gels involved I think people are remarkably well behaved. The number of packages I've seen disgarded is low enough that they could well be the result of accidental drops when trying to put them in pockets. Supported by the fact that some of them are unused. Certainly if people are tossing them intentionally it's a tiny percentage.

markwb79

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

Pross wrote:

Get some practice in getting a gel / bar out of your jersey

(rant start)

...and more importantly, get some practice in getting said gel / bar back IN your jersey pocket :evil:

If you think its ok to chuck your shite into the hedgerows, then you're no better than the Chavs chucking their McD's out of the car window. Sure, you'll have messy pockets but so what- its all going in the wash anyway. These idiots are no doubt the ones moaning the loudest when their local parish race circuit is struck off the calendar due to complaints from locals.

(rant over)

Definitely agree, but on the odd occasion I have 'had' to throw it. I have thrown it when there is a bin by the side of the road.

markwb79

For a 110km race I will take 4 gels. plan to eat them at around 0, 30, 60 and 90km. Also 4 figs that I will eat early on whenever there is a lull.

ai_1

Markwb79 wrote:

For a 110km race I will take 4 gels. plan to eat them at around 0, 30, 60 and 90km. Also 4 figs that I will eat early on whenever there is a lull.

I never use gels until I'm within the last hour or so of an event. I've always thought they spike your blood sugar and you feel much better for a short spell and then worse than you did before. So, I prefer not to start taking them until I'm not going to stop. For the 140km sportive I did last week I put 4 gels in a small flask and didn't touch it until there were only about 20 hilly kilometers to go. Then I took a swig every few kilometers from 120km to about 135km which seemed to have the desired effect of helping me keep my pace up for the closing stages without any sudden dips. In the past I've also occasionally used them in the middle of long rides, taking one a few km before a big climb in the knowledge I could back off a bit and recover while descending the other side.

I haven't tried what you suggest but I would have thought that you'd get a benefit from the gel you took at 30km starting somewhere around 33-34km but only lasting a few kilometers and then you'd suffer for the best part of an hour until the next one kicks in and so on. I'm curious whether your experience is anything like what I've described or if my assumption is wrong?

okgo

A gel will last about 20-30 mins, why you're making this so complicated I don't know, especially for sportives, where you can eat without needing to worry about getting dropped.

If you eat something like a gel, with 20-25g of carbs each 25 mins after the first 30 mins or so you will be fine. IF you really need that extra kick near the end (for your gold time or whatever it may be) then a caffeine gel perhaps might be good but really its not as complicated as you are making it.

Grill

If I happen to be in a race where nutrition is required (over 90 minutes) then I use ZipVit gels. They have 51g of carbs so when you combine that with an energy drink it's more than the body needs. Did a 12hr time trial on 11 of those bad boys last year without any trouble.

markwb79

Ai_1 wrote:

Markwb79 wrote:

For a 110km race I will take 4 gels. plan to eat them at around 0, 30, 60 and 90km. Also 4 figs that I will eat early on whenever there is a lull.

I never use gels until I'm within the last hour or so of an event. I've always thought they spike your blood sugar and you feel much better for a short spell and then worse than you did before. So, I prefer not to start taking them until I'm not going to stop. For the 140km sportive I did last week I put 4 gels in a small flask and didn't touch it until there were only about 20 hilly kilometers to go. Then I took a swig every few kilometers from 120km to about 135km which seemed to have the desired effect of helping me keep my pace up for the closing stages without any sudden dips. In the past I've also occasionally used them in the middle of long rides, taking one a few km before a big climb in the knowledge I could back off a bit and recover while descending the other side.

I haven't tried what you suggest but I would have thought that you'd get a benefit from the gel you took at 30km starting somewhere around 33-34km but only lasting a few kilometers and then you'd suffer for the best part of an hour until the next one kicks in and so on. I'm curious whether your experience is anything like what I've described or if my assumption is wrong?

I am referring to a race, the gap between 30 and 60km is a lot less than an hour. In my experience they last around 40minutes. Hence my ideal strategy. But this is racing, its not always possible to eat when you planned to.

Also in the first 90 minutes I will eat the figs. Nice to get some real food into my stomach I find.

As for feeling worse after the effects of the gel have warn off. Thats because you have been racing for an extra hour or so. You would also be feeling more tired/worse if you hadnt taken the gel.

As for sportives. hardly ever use a gel in those. Your lungs are never popping out, so its a lot easier to digest real food.

cycleclinic

I eat a gel about half way through and drink water mixed with zipvit powder and electrolyte tablets. If i drop off it is not because of a lack of fuel. I eat lots of carbs always but in particular the day or two before but woth racing twice a week thats every day at present. The long races are on a sunday and i always start with two eggs for breakfast followed by 6 weatabix. I feel pretty fueled after that. Also very full fat milk from the milkman with the ceral. Never feel a lack of energy in a race, a lack of fitness yes.